Reaper Days
by Miu-ChiChan
Summary: [A few months before the events of TWEWY] Being a Reaper isn't easy. Especially in ones first days. Yet not as hard as it is for Mamori. Because her first days as a Reaper were... Complicated, to say the least. Not to mention a crazy Reaper is after her. But no fear, the Composer got her back! ... In his unique way.
1. New Reaper Troubles

"The new Reaper? What about her?" Joshua asked as he looked at the Conductor who had been staring at the young boy who was sitting in the giant, black chair. The young boy looked a bit questioning, not knowing what was going on nor what his Conductor wanted to tell him. In fact, the Conductor was shuttering a lot, trying to find his words which was unusual. Something was up with Megumi this time. Just what?  
Joshua couldn't really tell nor tried to tell. He was just sitting there, staring right at Megumi with an unfazed expression and was just waiting for him to speak up. He will speak up eventually, he is just trying to find the right words at the moment… Probably. The Conductor was not someone to run, especially not from the Composer himself as both were sort of close. Conductor was still under the Composer yet still quiet high and one of the few Reapers who had direct contact with Joshua after all. So if there is something wrong he will say it as he already had started.  
"I think I know how to put this" the Reaper finally spoke up and was ready to face the Composer again. "The new Reaper concerns me. A lot."  
"Has she been offended by other Reapers?" Joshua asked yet Megumi shook his head.  
"No. It's not that kind of problem. It is more coming from herself if anything else."  
"Don't tell me you are trying to tell me she did massive rule breaking because I am not believing that."  
"No no! Nothing of that sorts! I am just here to say that the complains about her are piling up from the previous Gamemasters."  
Joshua rose one of his eyebrows. "Complains? What kind of complains?"  
"She is an obstacle if anything else."  
"An… Obstacle? What kind of obstacle?"  
Megumi sighed. "How can I explain it in a way that you will not hurt such a Re-" "Just spit it out Megumi, I don't have all day" the Composer interrupted. "Besides, unless having a benefit from it I'm not interested in that. Just say it."  
"According to the last six Gamemasters the Reaper is a nuisance. She cannot control her powers, makes Noises which go after Reapers despite not being able to hurt them and Player erasure happens on pure accident and not in the way the Gamemaster envisions it. Not to mention the-"  
"Say no more Megumi" Joshua interrupted as he stood up and sighed. "Considers this dealt with sooner than you think."

And with that the Composer dismissed the Conductor. Just who were they talking about? This was very easy to answer.  
The new Reaper is known as Mamori, Mamori Wakai.  
Mamori is a Reaper since a few weeks by now. Back then she was a regular player, having played the game for ten weeks. Joshua first met her in person during her final week when he wanted to dispose of a Reaper in a more fun way instead of just going for direct erasure. She was his partner throughout the week and after a little troublesome Reaper's Game she had decided to become a Reaper once and for all, promising to work under his service.  
Even the Composer admitted that the new Reaper had some potential in terms of abilities and it's a plus that she seemed also very loyal. Due to past circumstances it took time yet faster than thought she was probably one of the most loyal Reaper he could ask for.  
But it doesn't take loyalty and potential alone to be a good Reaper. It takes more than that and he just heard from Megumi that she indeed lacked something.

Joshua heard footsteps coming closer to the Room of the Reckoning. They came closer and closer. He turned to the direction the steps were coming from and keeping staring there when they stopped.  
He only saw a female standing right at the entrance. At first glance she looked like a normal female-Long, brown hair tied into a ponytail and green eyes. A white shirt with a red tie, above it a red jacket and a black skirt. Her stockings were white and her black shoes stuck out from them. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until someone would notice her black Reaper wings on her back. This was the only sign to tell someone that she wasn't as ordinary as it seems. The only sign to show someone that she is a Reaper.  
"Uhm… Composer?" she suddenly asked when she realized she has been stared at, gulping for a quick moment. "You… Wanted me here?" Joshua nods as he made a motion with his hand that she shall step in, closer to him. She nodded and did as he signed her to do, soon standing right in front of him.  
She only looked at him, probably waiting for something. After all, right now she had no idea what he called her here for. So she had no other response but to stare right at him.  
He stared back at her, still sitting in his chair, trying to think how to say it best. Yet then he finally decided to just be straightforward, there is no need to beat around the bush after all.  
"Mamori" he started. "We need to have a talk." "A… Talk?" she asked with a slight confusion yet also worry in her face. "Did I do something wrong? Did I upset you? Maybe I-"  
"Calm down, I didn't even say anything yet."  
"Why else would you-"  
"May I speak up now?"  
And this shut the woman in front of him up, making her nod slowly. Josh took a deep breath, then faced her directly again as he stood up, looking up to her face. Otherwise he would face an entirely different area as she was bigger than him, at least when it came to this form.  
"Megumi informed me about your performance during the Reaper Games as a Reaper" he then began, his voice having an unusual serious tone to it. An obvious sign he was not messing with anyone at the moment. It was rare to hear but it was there… Sometimes at least.  
"My performance?" the female Reaper repeated questioning. "Was it awful?"  
"I wouldn't say awful. The erasure of Player ratio is impressive for a beginner. It has to do with your… Powers. You cannot control them I have heard."  
"Cannot… Control them? How would one be able to-"  
"Creation of Noises attacking Reapers, accidental erasure of too many Players. Many Gamemasters sent their complains straight to the Conductor about this. They said you are a… Nuisance."  
Mamori looked at him a bit shocked, yet then shook it off and her expression turned into a very serious one again. "A nuisance huh? If that is the case I will take any punishment you will-" "Relax. I have not called you here to punish you" he interrupted the female Reaper, chuckling slightly at her response. "I have no interest in that. Besides, you are not the first Reaper who cannot control their powers. Big deal." He then walked past her, facing a wall directly within the room. "All you need is a little training" he added.  
Mamori turned to him, looking at him yet he didn't seem to turn away from the wall anytime soon. "Training?" she asked as he nodded. "I convinced one of my best men to-"  
But before Joshua could continue the wall was slammed down, revealing a pair of Reapers. One of them was a male, dressed like a pirate and having a giant scythe in his hands. His grin was rather sinister, making his presence a rather uncomfortable one.  
Next to him was a blond girl. She looked average… At first. Yet her fox ears and her fox tail suggested otherwise as well as her reaper wings. She grinned in the same direction as the pirate Reaper yet with that grin she showed off her very sharp teeth.  
Both were accompanied with a lot of smoke as well as a light shining right at them, putting them at the focus.  
"Reaper training huh?" the male Reaper let out in a dark voice, laughing quietly. "Alright alright. Don't expect us to go e-"  
"That was the wrong timing!" Joshua suddenly interrupted while throwing a random object right at both of the Reapers. The pirate dressed one realized, stopped his speech and quickly grabbed the blond haired girl to jump aside with her. "I said you two appear **after** I finished the sentence!"  
"Sorry sorry" the male mumbled a bit annoyed. "Ki couldn't hold it anymore. She was so excited, even I couldn't hold her back any longer." "The pirate Reaper and Denki?" Mamori asked with a blank stare. "That was your best option?" "First off, it's Kaito!" the male Reaper in the pirate costume yelled. "Second, is that-"  
Yet before it escalated the Composer stepped in between the two, drawing the attention right to him by saying:"Kaito might not look like it but he is one of the best Reapers there are in terms of erasure count. Not to mention he has a bit of experience with training Reapers."

And with that Joshua wished he was kidding. Kaito was indeed one of the more superior Reapers there were when it came to battle capabilities. If he wasn't restricted by the Composer himself he would erase all players within the first ten seconds of the game. Yet this is no fun to watch so Josh was forced to restrict the pirate Reaper erasure count to a maximum of five per game. No exceptions. Not to forget that he is one of the few Reapers banned from being Gamemaster, simply because of that. However, he made an excellent coach when it came to train Reapers due to this.  
Hard to believe his Reaper partner Denki was longer a Reaper than Kaito was. She was nowhere near impressive. In fact… She was more on the dumb side and it shows with her behavior. She often had her fox ears and fox tail out, making her unable to speak besides making a 'nyeh' sound and her behavior was a lot like an actual animal. Not to mention she easily loses her orientation whenever separated from Kaito and despite smelling scents she tends to confuse them. Simple things are confusing for her and rarely will she get things right. A surprise she actually knows how to activate her Noise form with ease.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase" the pirate Reaper then spoke up in his normal tone. "We got another case of uncontrollable Reaper powers and I'm supposed to teach her alongside Ki cheering her on?" The fox Reaper in the meantime had gone into the corner, trying to chase her own shadow in the meantime because that seemed more interesting to her than the conversation going on at the moment. Yet they let her because that seemed to keep the blond haired girl entertained enough for quite some time.  
"That'd be the short version, yes" the Composer nodded while both of the males gazes went over to Mamori, looking surprised at them while gulping and taking a step back. "She sucks at controlling them." "I am sorry?" she mumbled questioning, not knowing how to react to the entire situation now. Especially since the entrance. It put her out of her usual behavior and it showed.  
Yet the pirate chuckled. "Hey hey hey. No sweat" he said as we walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder. "We're gonna fix that in no time!"  
Little did Kaito know when he gave the thumbs up that this will be one of the hardest tasks he'd have to fulfill. If Megumi was not exaggerating and this goes on for weeks now even the pirate Reaper will have his struggles here and there, even if he keeps up with the most stupid Reaper in existence herself all day long.

"Not my problem anymore."

Actions ↑ Top Next Chapter →


	2. Ramen the Love Provider

Grumble. Grumble. And another grumble.  
That Kaito would take longer than usual for now is nothing new to Joshua. After all, training a Reaper isn't easy. It's a huge deal and a lot of work… At least from what the Composer had heard. He never tried it himself. He wasn't suited for that anyway. He wasn't a Reaper. He was the Composer.  
Yet… Kaito was never this late. Was this really the hardest so far or-  
Suddenly the door to Joshua's room opened. He peeked right to it, in hope it would be his ramen provider… Yet then sighed a bit disappointed when he saw who it was-The Reaper in training, Mamori herself. "What is it?" he asked, trying not to grumble nor let out a stomach grumble. Yet at least from his mouth a slight grumble was able to be heard.  
The female stared right at him, sighing:"Okay, what did I do now? Just say it in my fa-" "It's not you" he interrupted, sinking more and more in the chair he was sitting in. "It's just a mood. Woke up badly."  
She rose an eyebrow, her stare almost being suspicion itself. Her gaze went up and down, observing him closely. His face, his expression, his stance-Every detail she could catch.  
He stared right back at her, asking himself what this gaze was all about. The Composer couldn't deny this time… It made him a bit uncomfortable to be stared at like that. Besides, she acted like he hid something from her. … Okay, he technically did but it wasn't necessary to let her know.  
Yet he jumped a bit up when her stare was suddenly a very angered one. Enraging. This wasn't a good sign was it?  
Joshua was familiar with that face of Mamori's better than anyone by now. In the time as a Player she didn't show it that often to him. Sure, she was annoyed with his attitude and still is sometimes but nothing which made her seriously mad at him. However, this changed the moment she was accepted into Reaper circles. He did his usual stuff-Teasing people and maybe playing tricks on them because he was bored. One of them even Mamori had to experience. However, if he had the idea that exposing her underwear to everyone would make her explode he might have thought twice about it. What she did was simply cruel-She managed to make all of his ramen disappear. He doesn't know how she did it but she did it. Not even ordering ramen helped. It was away. Poof. All gone. The worst thing is she did it without a warning.  
However, since that only lasted a few hours he decided to do nothing against it and let the female Reaper of the hook… This time. Although… Thinking about it the Composer wouldn't even dare any longer. Why? Because a life with no ramen would be pure torture. And who knows-If he erased her he'd erase all ramen alongside it. Even Shio Ramen. And he cannot risk that!  
Joshua gulped, shaking his head instantly. "No no no! Calm down Mamori, I didn't do anything!" he quickly let out. "This time at least! Your underwear is perfectly safe in your closet!" "Excuse me?" she suddenly asked as her voice lowered itself. "I didn't say anything about underwear. Did you do something funny with it again?"  
"No, I didn't! Why would I do that!?"  
"Because you are Joshua. All said Composer."  
"What kind of logic is that!? Mean!" he suddenly shouted in a pouty voice. "Besides, you are not my Mom! So you cannot tell me anything! Ha!"  
Mamori stared right confused at him, not knowing how to counter that part. It seemed… Odd to hear in a situation like this. At least for her. All she saw out of nowhere was a puffy face of his. She only answered that with a sigh and then adding:"Alright, alright. I take your word on it. This time at least."  
"Not to mention Kaito takes very long today" he then continued, sounding more pouty and as if he did not hear the Reaper right in front of him, only confusing her more.  
"Takes very long for what?" **  
**"You did not realize!? What kind of Reaper are you not realizing your Composer's misery!"  
"W… What?" Mamori was only able to bring out, not even slightly sure how to respond to that. "Composer, are you sick or some-"  
"I'm having an inner crisis right no-" but he was interrupted by his own stomach grumble. More than once. Whenever he wanted to speak up now he was just interrupted over and over again.  
The female Reaper just stared blankly. Her gaze was set on his stomach, still grumbling like crazy, not taking a break.  
He closed his eyes, expecting the worst from her. What if that made her mad? What if-  
"Oh, you are just hungry" she then let out in a giggling voice. "Why didn't you say anything sooner Composer?" He opened his eyes when he heard that, looking a bit surprised at the female Reaper. She took this a bit more lightly than he thought. … Wait, was being hungry even a reason to be mad at someone, if he thought about it closely?  
Mamori turned her gaze up, facing him directly know, building up eye contact. "I might be able to help you with that" she continued. "Even if you could it isn't your duty" Joshua replied. "I have Kaito for-"  
"But Kaito went to sleep a moment ago."  
"He what?"  
"Coaching me exhausts him so much lately, he said he needed his rest earlier. He told me to tell you and that was the main reason why I came here?"  
"He went to sleep and leaves me alone, all hungry!?" the Composer yelled angrily, about to stand up and stomp outside the room but she grabbed him in time so he couldn't move any step further and only struggled to get out of her grip.  
"Hold it right there Composer!" the brown haired female started. "Let Kaito rest. I can confirm he seems to feel some exhaustion during our training. How about you let someone else handle the problem today?"  
"Someone else!? Like who!?"  
He only heard a cough. When he realized he turned his gaze slightly to the female Reaper as far as he could… Only to see her more serious stare and pointing at herself with her free hand, basically giving him the obvious signal what she wanted to tell him:"Me over here!"  
The young looking boy sighed:"Fine. You win. You can get dinner." "Thank you" she responded as she let him down. "I make sure to not disappoint so do not worry. What do y-"  
"Shio Ramen!" he interrupted right away with a serious face.  
She nodded in response with a light smile. "Shio Ramen it is."

And so, Mamori had left the room since for quite some time now. For an hour, at least. Joshua was waiting there, sitting and his stomach still grumbling. That… Is a very long time for getting dinner. What did she do during all this time? All she had to do was picking up the phone and order some. Was that really so hard? And it arriving probably wouldn't take that long now would it? So what could possibly be taking her that long?  
This was getting odd. So he decided to jump out of his chair and leave his room, to actually check what was going on.  
He left his room, looked around, yelled her name but no reply. Seriously, what was she just doing? What is so hard to simply order some ramen from a takeout and-  
But then his thoughts paused as he smelled something. An… unusual smell. Something he did not smell before. And it was coming from one direction.  
It wasn't a bad smell per se. In fact, it smelled very yummy and inviting. And so, before Joshua knew it he was following the smell. It lead him right into the kitchen. Someone cooking at a time like this? That was unusual. Oh well, let's take a pee-  
And when he did he couldn't believe his eyes. It was rather… Surprising to see. At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him. He rubbed them a few times after all, pinched his cheeks… Yet he woke up nowhere. Only at the same, usual place he was-Peeking into the kitchen without knowing what he should say. He saw her there… Doing something he thought she wouldn't do but she did…  
There was Mamori, wearing an apron and in front of two bowls, boiling. He kept staring for a moment which she seemed to have noticed as she turned her face slightly to him and looking right at him… Which woke him up from his gaze and he stepped a bit backwards.  
But all she did was smile lightly at him while chuckling lightly and then answering:"If you wanted to check how dinner is coming along it should be ready in a few minutes. I apologize it took so long but it was a bit hard to gather the ingredients. May you wait in your room?"  
He couldn't reply properly. All he could do was nod slowly and back out. This was a surprise after all, not leaving him alone for a moment. Could it be that- No! There is no way it could happen that easily! She first needs to prove herself! If she can do that then maybe- Oh what was he thinking right now!? It can't be!

Joshua heard a knock on the door. He asked the person to come in and so she did-It was the female Reaper, of course, holding a tablet with a hot bowl of ramen on it right in her hands as well as the necessary equipment to properly eat this ramen-Two sticks.  
It was freshly made. It was easily visible by the steam going up from it. It was probably hot. And… It smelled nice, no denying.  
"I apologize again for taking so long" she repeated as she stepped closer. "I had a few issues with finding the ingredients after all. However, I did my best. Shio Ramen as requested." While this she stepped closer so she could hand it over to him. And indeed, he took the tablet, placed it on his lap and grabbed the sticks right away. He was staring right into the bowl, staring at the ramen. It… Did look pretty tasty already. It was pretty well made… At least on the outside. Does it taste good? That is the question right now! Nothing else matters!  
And so… Joshua neatly broke the stick into two as he picked up some noodles out of the bowl, looking closely at them. Perfectly boiled, at least that's what it looked like to him. Not too much, not too less. As if she knew how to handle a noodle. And quite professional at that.  
He blew a bit to cool it down. After all, who knows what might happen. He didn't want to burn his tongue, at least not for now.  
When that deed was done he was finally ready to place the noodles inside his mouth and proceeded slurping them.  
The moment he first slurp occurred his eyes widened, brightly and happily. These… These noodles… The soup which they soaked in… It was all so simple yet at the same time… The flavor was strong. Very strong. Yet not too strong. It was the perfect amount of strong. This… Was this… Was this ramen even done by a mortal being!? It was perfect! He had nothing to complain about! This… This ramen taste is inhuman! This was heaven!  
"Uhm… Composer? Composer!" a voice woke him up. The male shook his head and turned his face to the female Reaper, staring right at him yet staring very serious at him. "Eating that fast is not healthy you know" she let out in her scolding voice yet this time he didn't seem to mind as he only nodded. "O… Of course!" he agreed. "I need to enjoy this after all!"  
"Enjoy… This?"  
"Y… Yeah. You did great Mamori! This tastes amazing!"  
"Y… You think so? Thank you, I appreciate the compliment. It is very high praise if it comes from-"  
"Can you do the cooking from now on!? Please!? Pretty please!?" He looked begging at her, with puppy eyes hard to resist. She tried to look away, not knowing what to say. But he knew she would eventually give in as she then sighed:"If you wish for it I can do that."  
Then Joshua lost the begging expression yet smiled instead, very happily as a small blush escaped his face. It was not a strong blush but visible if someone paid closer attention to it. "Thank you! I'm looking forward to it!"

And from this moment on the Composer knew one thing:  
 _"I found my wife!"_


End file.
